Women's Water Polo

#19 Cal State Northridge Competes In Big West Tournament

Apr 25, 2012

Northridge, Calif. – If Cal State Northridge has any dreams of competing in the NCAA Water Polo Tournament (May 11-13) at San Diego State, the Matadors will have to win the upcoming Big West Tournament which is slated for April 27-29 at UC Davis.

The six-team league tournament will be played at the Ted & Rand Schaal Aquatics Center on the UC Davis campus.

Cal State Northridge needs to win three games in three days, including a victory over top-seed and sixth-ranked UC Irvine to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

But first the Matadors have to beat a tough Long Beach State squad in the first round on Friday (April 27) at 3:30 p.m. A victory over the 49ers would put the Matadors in the semi-finals against UC Irvine. Earlier this year (4/1/12), the Matadors posted an 11-7 victory over the 49ers as Jenny Jamison collected four goals while Kelcie Ferreira and Lindsy Nelson each added a pair of goals.

The Matadors, ranked 19th in the nation, has claimed the #4 seed in the Big West Tournament.

Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State and Pacific each finished fourth in the conference regular season standings with 1-4 records. However, the Matadors earned the fourth-seed in the Big West Tournament based on the best goal differential (+3) in conference games against the other tied teams. Cal State Northridge will play fifth-seed Long Beach State on Friday, April 27 at 3:30 p.m. Third-seed UC Santa Barbara will face sixth-seed Pacific at 5:15 p.m. in the opening round on Friday.

If Cal State Northridge wins its game on Friday (April 27), the Matadors will face top-seed and sixth-ranked UC Irvine on Saturday (April 28) at 2:30 p.m. Defeating UC Irvine won't be easy. The Anteaters have beaten the Matadors three times this year, and five straight times dating back to 2010. UC Irvine leads the series, 17-3.

For complete information and results of the 2012 Big West Tournament, go to www.ucdavis.com.

For season statistics and updated career information on this year's Matador team, go to gomatadors.com.

Team Talk …

Young and talented would be a perfect description of the 2012 Cal State Northridge water polo team … Fifteen of the team's 18 players are either freshmen or sophomores … CSUN has scored 362 goals this year, 308 by the underclassmen … That translates into 85 percent of the team's offense … CSUN's top three scorers (sophomore Jenny Jamison, freshman Marisa Young, sophomore Lindsy Nelson) have collected 178 goals, more than 49 percent of the team's scoring … Jamison and Young have reached the single season Top-10 list with 67 and 62 goals, respectively … Jamison's 67 goals are fourth-best in school history while Young's 62 goals are sixth-best for a single season at Cal State Northridge … Nelson's 49 goals are six short of catching Jessica Coy (2009) in tenth-place in Matador annals … Cal State Northridge has 344 steals this year of which 254 have been tallied by the freshmen and sophomores … Freshman Kelcie Ferreira has a team-leading 68 steals, fifth-best in school history.

Record Review …
With three games remaining in the 2012 season and maybe more if CSUN wins the Big West Tournament, Cal State Northridge is on the verge of breaking at least one school record … The Matadors have scored 362 goals this year, only nine short of the school record of 371 set during the 2010 campaign … The single season assist record is 347 (2010 season) and this year's team has 320, third-best in school history … CSUN has 345 saves this year, fourth-best in school history, and within reach of third-place with 367 (2010 campaign) … Cal State Northridge has collected 344 steals this year, fifth-best in school history … Sophomore Jenny Jamison has a team-leading 67 goals this year, fourth-best for a single season in school history … Only Whitney Delgado (80goals, 2010 season; 76 goals, 2011 season) and Chari Christopher (74 goals, 2005 season) are ahead of Jamison … Freshman Marisa Young has 62 goals this year, sixth-best in CSUN history … Sophomore Lindsy Nelson has 49 goals this year, just six goals short of catching Jessica Coy in tenth place with 55 goals (2009) … Nelson has 90 goals in two seasons (2010, 2011 seasons), only five short of catching Chelsea Curran (2007-11) in tenth place in school history … Nelson also has 88 career assists, two short of Whitney Delgado (2009-11) and Leah Janke (2010-) with 90 assists in tenth place in the school record book … Dana Harvey, a senior goalkeeper, has 450 saves in two seasons at Cal State Northridge, third-best in school history … Harvey has collected 248 saves this season, seventh-best for a single season in school history … Freshman Kelcie Ferreira has tallied 68 steals this year, fifth-best in school history … Sophomore Melissa Doll has 44 assists this year, only three short of Matador Top 10 … Lynzy Klein (2005), Jessica Coy (2007, 2009) and Leah Janke (2011) each collected 47 assists … HeidiPettinger has 129 career goals, seventh-best in school history, and two short of catching Erica Bonetti (2003-06) in sixth-best in school history … Pettinger is fifth-best in school history with 116 assists, and sixth-best with 143 career steals.